Multiparameter Assessment of the Gas Forming Tendency of Foundry Sands with Alkyd Resins

Gas atmosphere at the sand mould/cast alloy interface determines the quality of the casting obtained. Therefore the aim of this study was to measure and evaluate the gas forming tendency of selected moulding sands with alkyd resins. During direct and indirect gas measurements, the kinetics of gas evolution was recorded as a function of the temperature of the sand mixture undergoing the process of thermal destruction. The content of hydrogen and oxygen was continuously monitored to establish the type of the atmosphere created by the evolved gases (oxidizing/reducing). The existing research methodology [1, 7, 8] has been extended to include pressure-assisted technique of indirect measurement of the gas evolution rate. For this part of the studies, a new concept of the measurement was designed and tested. This article presents the results of measurements and compares gas emissions from two sand mixtures containing alkyd resins known under the trade name SL and SL2002, in which the polymerization process is initiated with isocyanate. Studies of the gas forming tendency were carried out by three methods on three test stands to record the gas evolution kinetics and evaluate the risk of gas formation in a moulding or core sand. Proprietary methods for indirect evaluation of the gas forming tendency have demonstrated a number of beneficial aspects, mainly due to the ability to record the quantity and composition of the evolved gases in real time and under stable and reproducible measurement conditions. Direct measurement of gas evolution rate from the tested sands during cast iron pouring process enables a comparison of the results with the results obtained by indirect methods.